Little adverse impact of induction chemotherapy on subsequent concurrent chemoradiotherapy

Induction chemotherapy did not increase side effects or decrease quality of life (QOL) when given before concurrent chemoradiotherapy, according to a presentation at the 40th ASCO meeting.Concurrent chemoradiotherapy improves locoregional control and overall survival in head and neck cancer and induction chemotherapy decreases distant metastases, but is associated with increased toxicity. This paper studied functional and QOL parameters and the impact of adding induction chemotherapy to chemoradiotherapy regimens. Standard measures of performance and QOL including the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Head and Neck Scale (FACT-H&N), the Performance Status Scale for Head and Neck Cancer Patients (PSS-HN) and patient-rated side effects were analysed for 179 patients treated on one of five sequential chemoradiotherapy trials. Group A included patients from two trials using five cycles of twice daily radiation with concurrent chemoradiotherapy with 5-fluorouracil, hydroxyurea and paclitaxel. Group B included three trials that added two cycles of induction chemotherapy using carboplatin and paclitaxel....